For Veterans’ Day this school year, the Social Studies Department is hosting a new tradition in order to honor veterans from, and connected to, the Glenview community, Jeannie Logan, Social Studies Instructional Supervisor, said.

This year is the first in many that South has had school on Veterans’ Day, and the Social Studies Department wanted to commemorate the day with a building-wide project, Logan said. Students in Social Studies classes, staff, and clubs will create printer-paper-sized posters for a veteran they want to recognize, she explained. All of these posters will be put up at State and Madison on Veterans’ Day to create a “Honor Wall”, she added.

“[The Honor Wall] is a great way for students and staff to do something together in the school and come together as a community,” Logan said. “We have a whole variety of ways that students, clubs, and staff are able to connect to this experience and participate in it.”

The Social Studies Department decided to host and facilitate the Honor Wall because of the expertise of the Social Studies teachers and the importance of a classroom connection with this project, Logan said.

“Social Studies teachers are well-equipped to be a conduit of information to make sure that our intention and our vision [for the Honor Wall] gets communicated effectively, and to help students as they’re thinking about participating [in the project] and encouraging them,” Logan said. “Even if it is not tied directly to every class’s curriculum overall, [honoring veterans] is tied to our mission and goals as a department.”

While Veterans’ Day is not as well known as other holidays, it is quietly meaningful, highlighting values of service and sacrifice, Logan explained. Being able to participate in a school-wide project celebrating this day of service will bring all members of the school together, she added.

“When we see all of the different veterans that have somehow been important to whose service has been meaningful to us, regardless of what role we play in the school, it brings us all together in a way that we don’t get to do that often,” Logan said. “It reminds us that each one of us has a life and a community outside of [South] that we bring with us when we come into this building.”